Barnes Railway Station

Just 200 years ago Putney was a village in Surrey. It was not part of London as it is today.

The village was a place of recreation within easy reach of London by boat. It comprised of summer residences of the wealthy escaping the city, it's bowling green was popular with politicians. To the west of the village where we are now, you would have found market gardens and heathland.

Our first abomination is the railway itself. When developers announced their plans to build a railway line from Southwark Bridge to Richmond in 1836 local landowners, farmers and clergy were horrified. One of their main arguments against building the railway was the view that it would "increase the desecration of the Lord's Day in this neighbourhood". The protestors also said there would be no benefits to the investors because "there is no manufacturing or commerce along the whole route". This first bid failed, however 10 years later a new line was built from Waterloo.

While we may technically be in Barnes at this point, if you look at the railway station, you are in fact also looking at the very first Putney Station building. There were three of these structures built along the line. Putney station lasted no more than 20 years and was pulled down in 1856 to make way for more railway tracks.